Enrile eyes new law to protect bloggers

by Jojo Malig, ABS-CBNnews.com

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday said a law should be enacted to protect bloggers following the fallout caused by allegations that Senator Tito Sotto plagiarized the work of an American blogger in a privilege speech he made against the reproductive health bill.

Enrile, during interpellation of Sotto's new privilege speech to answer the plagiarism allegations, said he himself does not know what blogs are.

He said he does not approve of plagiarism, but people have been copying the ideas of others, with the Philippines itself copying the laws of other countries.

Enrile said people can use the work of others as long as the material is not used contrary to the opinion of the original writer or is used to malign the person's reputation.

"[If] you are a trained journalist or a trained writer, you have to make a proper attribution," he said.

"If your failure to make attribution is done in good faith, you respect the opinion, the material you borrow in order to support your position on your given isue, there should be a presumption of good faith," he added.